While the reach of this replacement firmware package was long limited by complicated installation procedures -- procedures that required a fair degree of user tech savvy as the user navigated through as many as 20 steps (a process CM's authors described as admittedly "brutal") -- as many as 24 million Android users may already have taken the plunge, according to CEO Kirk McMaster (this estimate includes unregistered users; 9 million users went through the trouble of officially registering themselves).

Now that reach is poised to expand dramatically as CM has released -- as promised -- an installer app to grossly simplify this process. To get started you just grab the CM installer from the Google Play store (the installer was at last approved today), grab the PC client app, and connect your Android tablet or smartphone to the PC. From there the client takes over, requiring just a few straightforward approval click-throughs. Behind the scenes the installer app and PC client use scripting to do all that heavy, geeky lifting for you, allowing the tech "n00b" and enthusiast alike to experience CM.

The Android device-side app [Image Source: Google Play]

A full list of compatible devices is available here and it looks quite extensive.

Experienced users might want to opt to download the early nightly builds of CM 11 (which includes Google's new KitKat improvements) instead of the Jelly Bean-based CM 10 which is included with the easy installer.

The only disappointing news is that the KitKat distributions for CM remain in the beta phase (as CyanogenMod 11). They're available here for experienced users willing to deal with potential bugs, but for entry-level users who opt for the easy-installer it appears they'll be receiving CM 10, which is based on the Android 4.3.1 ("Jelly Bean") source.

Our goal for the installer has always been to allow more users to experience the benefits of CyanogenMod, without the hassles of technical guides and concerns associated with the process. I’m especially pleased by the support the community has shown for our initiative and want to thank all those that helped beta test the installer.

In addition to making the latest version of Android available to device owners quicker than U.S. carriers/OEMs, CM also snags security features both from third parties and other parts of Google's development tree (e.g. CM boasted SELinux enforcing improvements, back when they were only available as part of special distributions like KNOX).

It is a notch above other replacement firmwares (generally) in that it allows you to tune the setup to your speakers with DSPManager, and updates itself via over-the-air (OTA) updates, reducing any sort maintenance chores for the user.

Once a hobby project for Mr. Kondik, CyanogenMod is now being developed actively by a small engineering team, and scored $7M USD in a recent round of venture capital funding.

the rounds are available just not on the automated installer. I've been running CyanogenMod on my old VZW gs3 since a month or two afVZW it was released. I even have an old droid 3 with CyanogenMod on it.